2002 Buell XB9R from United Kingdom

Summary:

What motorcycling should be - a blast!

Faults:

Fuel sensor failed at 1,800 miles.

Headlight came loose at 2,000 miles.

Heat sensor failed at 5,000 miles.

General Comments:

Forget straight line performance - get into a fight on a straight road and you'll get eaten by most decent Japanese 600s. But go and play in the twisty things, and you'll be digging dead flies out of your teeth for months.

With the race kit (uprated cam, chip and exhaust) it produces just over 100BHP, plenty for a 1 litre bike that weighs as much as most 250s.

Torque is plain silly. Somewhere around force 9 on the Richter Scale. Crack the throttle at any revs and woo hoo!

Not the bike for everyone - but put a proper rider between the tank and the bumstop, and it's pretty well uncatchable.

14th Jun 2005, 18:00

17th Jun 2005, 04:26

The dead flies aren't necessarily a good thing, but the experience that left you grinning like a toothpaste commercial is undoubtedly positive. If there's any other way of having this much fun without the risk of addiction, blindness or imprisonment, I've yet to discover it.

2003 Buell XB9R from United States of America

Summary:

Great fun! A real grin machine. Get one

Faults:

The speedometer sensor failed early on. Factory upgraded component was installed, and have had zero problems since.

General Comments:

Excellent street bike. This thing handles like no other I've ridden before, and will nip at the heels of bike with almost twice the horsepower on a tight twisty road. It will spank them if you're a better rider.

It's comfortable to ride given its ergonomics. About 300 miles in one day is about the best I've done.

The reliability of this bike is equal to anything currently on the market. It's got 20k on the odometer now, and I know it's good for many more times that.

2002 Buell XB9R from United Kingdom

Summary:

Faults:

2002 Buell XB9-R.

The drive belt started to crack, got it replaced under warranty.

Wheel bearings started to rust, also got those replaced free of charge.

General Comments:

Fantastic bike, massive amounts of torque, feels great to ride. If you're going for one of these, make sure you get the race kit (K&N, ECU and exhaust), sounds beautiful. Also, there are a lot of under body exhausts now available. I spent a few quid making mine look pretty sexy, had a paint job, and some custom bits and bobs.

Top end is about 135mph, will sit there all day, I went to Assen GP on mine and it coped no problem at all.

The new generation of XB Buells can handle lots of abuse and are pretty bullet proof compared to earlier models.

I'm 6'2 and had to put the XB9S foot pedals on there, as they gave me 1" extra leg room, which I found more comfortable.

If you want a different bike and like the attention, then you can't go too far wrong with one of these!!!